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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
Reading "Witness" has made it tough for me to like many books written in verse.
That being said... I have a thing for YA novels. Not because I'm creepy, but because I used to teach middle school English and greatly enjoyed selecting books for my students to read on their own. This required reading tons of books in order to be able to make appropriate, accurate selections and to ensure that when my students were reading something I could engage in conversations about their selections.
This would not be a book I'd recommend to my middle schoolers for several reasons however it would definitely be good to know about it.
The story is told from the perspective of a sixteen-then-seventeen-year-old girl who lives in Carson City and is Mormon. I thought the author was insensitive to the fact that while yes, there is a great deal of trouble in the Mormon community, some of the portrayals are inaccurate to the point of being slanderous, especially because Pattyn's family, while LDS, is not fundamentalist. But, I'll chalk that up to an author choosing to be lazy about her research. I just hate to think that someone walking away from this book would think that all Mormons think it's okay to beat women.
Through a variety of verse structure (some are really great - like writing one about crying and shaping each stanza as a tear) the narrator takes on through tales of her demise (that's the best word I can find to describe it), punishment, redemption and future.
Hopkins did a great job capturing angsty teen love - to a tee. Where she goes wrong is the ending. She needed to end the story but does so in a way that's just too much unbelievableity (new word... like it?) at once. Throw me one curveball, not four. I felt the ending really ruined what could have been a great ending.
That being said... I have a thing for YA novels. Not because I'm creepy, but because I used to teach middle school English and greatly enjoyed selecting books for my students to read on their own. This required reading tons of books in order to be able to make appropriate, accurate selections and to ensure that when my students were reading something I could engage in conversations about their selections.
This would not be a book I'd recommend to my middle schoolers for several reasons however it would definitely be good to know about it.
The story is told from the perspective of a sixteen-then-seventeen-year-old girl who lives in Carson City and is Mormon. I thought the author was insensitive to the fact that while yes, there is a great deal of trouble in the Mormon community, some of the portrayals are inaccurate to the point of being slanderous, especially because Pattyn's family, while LDS, is not fundamentalist. But, I'll chalk that up to an author choosing to be lazy about her research. I just hate to think that someone walking away from this book would think that all Mormons think it's okay to beat women.
Through a variety of verse structure (some are really great - like writing one about crying and shaping each stanza as a tear) the narrator takes on through tales of her demise (that's the best word I can find to describe it), punishment, redemption and future.
Hopkins did a great job capturing angsty teen love - to a tee. Where she goes wrong is the ending. She needed to end the story but does so in a way that's just too much unbelievableity (new word... like it?) at once. Throw me one curveball, not four. I felt the ending really ruined what could have been a great ending.
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
If I had read this back when it came out in 2006 I may have felt differently, but mostly it was a bit of a slog. Pattyn is a repressed Mormon teen with an alcoholic father who beats her mother and is the oldest of several siblings. When she starts having un-Mormonlike feelings for boys and freedom she soon gets caught partaking in both by her dad and sent to her ex-Mormon aunt’s house for the summer. Things are great, lots of ranching and stuff, love, and then she returns and things are worse than ever. The ending was very abrupt. Even though the religion of the characters was Mormonism, it kind of felt like any typical patriarchal religion and so I’m not sure what the point of that was. The summer scenes of love and killing cougars and herding cattle were slow and then there was the random bit about radiation poisoning. It all felt all over the place and then BAM that ending. A very meh read.
What a downer ending.. Liked it though.. Hate very strict religious people... I shouldn't hate Mormons because of what they practice, but I hate any religion where one of the big themes is "woman is under man's foot"... Is that so wrong that I want everyone to get an equal chance at everything? Love, jobs, money, even punishment? You may say, "well not all people who follow a religion that has that as a rule or belief will necessarily practice or believe that themselves" well then they're not truly practicing their religion, then aren't they?
Whatever! Good book. Sad ending. Actually made me say "WHAT? NO NO NO NO!!" at the end, and I never scream out loud when reading books.
Whatever! Good book. Sad ending. Actually made me say "WHAT? NO NO NO NO!!" at the end, and I never scream out loud when reading books.
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I definitely think that younger me would have loved this book but current me? Nah. I respect the fact that it talks about religious trauma and how it is incredibly damaging because it's not something that is really talked about in YA. However, I was hoping to be able to include this in my classroom library but I just don't think that's in the cards.
"Burned" by Ellen Hopkins was a beautifully written book. It had everything that a good book should have, except a good ending. Throughout this whole book, there was a few parts that were a little boring and repetitive but still amazing. Even though the rest of this book was incredible, the ending left you confused and wondering what actually happens. I would have given this book five stars if it had had a better ending.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
I absolutely enjoyed this heart wrenching story. I fell so in love with Pattyn and a few other characters. With tears in my eyes I eagerly wait until I can dive into the next book in this series.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry